"C. L. Moore - Fruit Of Knowledge" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moore C. L)

sphere which was God's greatest work. Yet here she walked through the heart of
it, and not even God knew, yet- Lilith slanted a smile up through the leaves
toward the choruses of
the seraphim whose singing swelled and sank and swelled again, unutterably
sweet high above the trees. The animals watched her pass with wide, bewildered
eyes, somehow not quite at ease, although no such thing as fear had yet
stirred through the Garden. Lilith glanced at them curiously as she passed.
They were pretty things. She liked Eden.
Presently a swooning fragrance came drifting to her through the trees, almost
too sweet to enjoy, and she heard a small voice piping excitedly: "Lilith . .
. Air and Darkness- He won't like it! Michael ought to know-"


Liith smiled and stepped clear of the trees into the full, soft glow of Eden's
sun. It did not touch the shadow that dimly veiled the pale contours of this
newest shape in Eden. Once or twice that intangible breeze lifted her hair in
a great, dim cloud about her, though no leaves moved. She stood quiet, staring
across the glade, and as she stared she felt the first small tremor of
distrust in this new flesh she wore.
For on a grassy bank in the sunlight, under the blossoming orange trees, lay
Adam. And the trees and the flowers of Eden had seemed beautiful to the eyes
of this body Lilith wore, and the breezes and the perfumes had delighted
it-but here was flawless perfection newly shaped out of the warm red earth of
Eden into the image of its Maker, and the sight of him frightened Lilith
because it pleased her so. She did not trust a beauty that brought her to a
standstill under the trees, not quite certain why she had stopped.
He sprawled in long-limbed magnificence on the grass, laughing up at the
cherub with his curly yellow head thrown back. Every line of him and every
motion had a splendid male beauty as perfect as Omnipotence could make it.
Though he wore no clothing he was no more naked than she, for there was a
curious glow all about him, a garment of subtle glory that clothed him as if
with an all-enveloping halo.
The cherub danced excitedly up and down in the air above him, shrilling:
"She shouldn't be here! You know she shouldn't! She's evil, that's what she
is! God won't like it! She-" Then above Adam's head he caught Lilith's eye,
gulped a time or two, piped one last admonishing, "Better watch out!" and
fluttered away among the leaves, looking back over one wing as he flew.
Adam's gaze followed the cherub's. The laughter faded from his face and he got
up slowly, the long, smooth muscles sliding beau-
tifully under his garment of subtle glory as he moved. He was utter perfection
in everything he did, flawless, new-made at the hands of Cod. He came toward
her slowly, a shining wonder on his face.
Lilith stared at him distrustfully. The other glories of the Garden had
pleased her abstractly, in a way that left her mistress of herself. But here
was something she did not understand at all. The eternal Lilith looked out,
bewildered, through the eyes of a body that found something strange and
wonderful in Adam. She laid a hand on the upper part of that body which rose
and fell with her breathing, and felt something beating strongly beneath the
smooth, curved surface of the stuff called flesh.
Adam came toward her slowly. They met in the middle of the glade, and for a